I must again acknowledge the assistance of those who helped me with the previous volumes, namely, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pownall, Commodore G. R. G. Allen, Colonel F. W. Deakin, and Sir Edward Marsh, Mr. Denis Kelly, and Mr. C. C. Wood. I have also to thank the very large number of others who have kindly read these pages and commented upon them.

I record my obligation to His Majesty’s Government for permission to reproduce the text of certain official documents of which the Crown Copyright is legally vested in the Controller of His Majesty’s Stationery Office. At the request of His Majesty’s Government on security grounds, I have paraphrased some of the telegrams published in this volume. These changes have not altered in any way the sense or substance of the telegrams.

PREFACE

This volume, like the others, claims only to be a contribution to the history of the Second World War. The tale is told from the standpoint of the British Prime Minister, with special responsibility as Minister of Defence for military affairs. As these came directly to some extent into my hands, British operations are narrated in their scope and in some detail. At the same time it would be impossible to describe the struggles of our Allies except as a background. To do full justice these must be left to their own historians, or to later and more general British accounts. While recognising the impossibility of preserving proportion, I have tried to place our own story in its true setting.

The main thread is again the series of my directives, telegrams, and minutes upon the daily conduct of the war and of British affairs. These are all original documents composed by me as events unfolded. They therefore constitute a more authentic record and give, I believe, a better impression of what happened and how it seemed at the time than any account which I could write now that the course of events is known. Although they contain expressions of opinion and forecasts which did not come true, it is by them as a whole that I wish my own share in the conflict to be judged. Only in this way can the reader understand the actual problems we had to face as defined by the knowledge then in our possession.

Space would not allow, nor indeed in many cases have I the right, to print the replies, which very often took the form of lengthy departmental memoranda. I have therefore been careful to avoid, so far as I can, throwing blame on individuals. Where possible I have endeavoured to give a summary of replies to telegrams. In the main however the documents which are printed tell the tale.

We are again dealing with war on the giant scale, and the battle on the Russian Front involved as many divisions on both sides as were engaged in the Battle of France. At every point along a far longer front the great masses engaged, with slaughter incomparable to anything which occurred elsewhere during the war. I cannot attempt to do more than refer to the struggle between the German and the Russian Armies, as the background of the actions of Britain and the Western Allies. The Russian epic of 1941 and 1942 deserves a detailed and dispassionate study and record in the English language. Even though no facilities for foreigners to narrate the Russian agony and glory might be accorded, the effort should be made. Nor should this impulse be chilled by the fact that the Soviet Government have already claimed all the honour for themselves.

Hitler’s invasion of Russia brought to an end the period of almost exactly a year during which Great Britain and her Empire stood alone, undismayed, and growing continually in strength. Six months later the United States, violently assaulted by Japan; became our ally for all purposes. The ground for our united action had been prepared beforehand by my correspondence with President Roosevelt, and it was possible to forecast not only the form of our operations but also their sequence. The effective combination of the whole English-speaking world in the waging of war and the creation of the Grand Alliance form the conclusion to this part of my account.

THE GRAND ALLIANCE

Theme of the Volume

BOOK I
GERMANY DRIVES EAST

BOOK II
WAR COMES TO AMERICA

I. The British Purchasing Commission in the United States: Directive by the Prime Minister of August 11, 1941

J. The Anglo—American—Russian Conference: General Directive by the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, September 22, 1941

K. Fleet Dispositions in the Indian Ocean: Correspondence between the Prime Minister and the First Lord and First Sea Lord, August 1941

MAPS AND DIAGRAMS

BOOK I

GERMANY DRIVES EAST

CHAPTER I

THE DESERT AND THE BALKANS

The Onset of Events in 1941—A Secure Foundation—The Hinge of the War—False Dawn in the Desert—My War Appreciation of January 6—A Firm Flank at Benghazi—The Campaign in Abyssinia—The Spanish Riddle—Vichy Obscurities—Threat of German Air-Power in Sicily—Overriding Danger in the Balkans—The Need to Support Greece—Our Main Task—Hitler’s New Year Thoughts—His Letter to Mussolini, December 31, 1940—Coincidence of Our View about Spain—Hitler’s Conclusions about Russia and Africa—Mr. Eden’s Anxieties—Need to Limit Our Desert Advance—General Smuts’ Telegram of January 8—Directions to General Wavell of January 10—Wavell Flies to Athens—My Telegram to Wavell of January 26—My Reply to General Smuts of January 12.

Looking back upon the unceasing tumult of the war, I cannot recall any period when its stresses and the onset of so many problems all at once or in rapid succession bore more directly on me and my colleagues than the first half of 1941. The scale of events grew larger every year; but the decisions required were not more difficult. Greater military disasters fell upon us in 1942, but by then we were no longer alone and our fortunes were mingled with those of the Grand Alliance. No part of our problem in 1941 could be solved without relation to all the rest. What was given to one theatre had to be taken from another. An effort here meant a risk there. Our physical resources were harshly limited. The attitude of a dozen Powers, friendly, opportunist, or potentially hostile, was unknowable. At home we must face the war against the U-boats, the invasion threat, and the continuing Blitz; we had to conduct the group of campaigns in the Middle East; and, thirdly, to try to make a front against Germany in the Balkans. And we had to do all this for a long time alone. After shooting Niagara we had now to struggle in the rapids. One of the difficulties of this narrative is the disproportion between our single-handed efforts to keep our heads above water from day to day and do our duty, and the remorseless development of far larger events.

We had at any rate a solid foundation in Great Britain. I was sure that provided we maintained the highest state of readiness at home, and the necessary forces, a German attempt at invasion in 1941 would not be to our disadvantage. The German air strength in all theatres was very little greater than in 1940, whereas our air fighter force at home had grown from fifty-one to seventy-eight squadrons, and our bombers from twenty-seven to forty-five squadrons. The Germans had not won the air battle in 1940. They seemed to have little chance of winning it in 1941. Our army in the Island had grown far stronger. Between September 1940 and September 1941 it was raised from twenty-six active divisions to thirty-four, plus five armoured divisions. To this must be added the maturity of the troops and the enormous increase in their weapons. The Home Guard had risen from a million to a million and a half; and now all had firearms. Numbers, mobility, equipment, training, organisation, and defence works were vastly improved. Hitler of course had always a superabundance of soldiers for invasion. To conquer us he would have had to carry and supply across the Channel at least a million men. He could by 1941 have had a large though not a sufficient quantity of landing-craft. But with our dominant Air Force and naval power giving us the command of both elements we had no doubt of our ability to destroy or cripple his armada. All the arguments therefore on which we had relied in 1940 were now incomparably stronger. So long as there was no relaxation in vigilance or serious reduction in our own defence the War Cabinet and the Chiefs of Staff felt no anxiety.

Although our American friends, some of whose generals visited us, took a more alarmist view of our position, and the world at large regarded the invasion of Britain as probable, we ourselves felt free to send overseas all the troops our available shipping could carry and to wage offensive war in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Here was the hinge on which our ultimate victory turned, and it was in 1941 that the first significant events began. In war armies must fight. Africa was the only continent in which we could meet our foes on land. The defence of Egypt and of Malta were duties compulsive upon us, and the destruction of the Italian Empire the first prize we could gain. The British resistance in the Middle East to the triumphant Axis Powers and our attempt to rally the Balkans and Turkey against them are the theme and thread of our story now.

The Desert victories cheered the opening days of the year. Bardia, with more than forty thousand men, surrendered on January 5. Tobruk seemed certainly within our grasp, and was in fact taken, with nearly thirty thousand prisoners, in a fortnight. On the 19th we reoccupied Kassala, in the Soudan, and on the 20th invaded the Italian colony of Eritrea, seizing the railhead at Biscia a few days later. On that same day the Emperor Haile Selassie re-entered Abyssinia. But all the while the reports accumulated of the German movements and preparations for a Balkan campaign. I drew up for the Chiefs of Staff an appreciation upon the war as a whole, with which I found them in general agreement.

Prime Minister to General Ismay, for C.O.S. Committee

6 Jan 41

I

The speedy destruction of the Italian armed forces in North-East Africa must be our prime major overseas objective in the opening months of 1941. Once the Italian army in Cyrenaica has been destroyed the Army of the Nile becomes free for other tasks. We cannot yet tell what these will be.

2. The fall of Bardia should enable an advanced base to be established there for the capture of Tobruk. With Bardia and Tobruk in our hands it should be possible to drop the land communications with Alexandria almost entirely and to rely upon sea transport for our further westward advance. Every plan should be made now to use Tobruk to its utmost capacity.

3. The striking force to be maintained west of Bardia and Tobruk need not be large. The 2nd and 7th British Armoured Divisions, the 6th Australian Division, the New Zealand brigade group, soon to become a division, with perhaps one or two British brigades, comprising not more than 40,000 to 45,000 men, should suffice to overpower the remaining Italian resistance and to take Benghazi. The distance from Tobruk to Benghazi by the coastal road is not much above 250 miles, compared with about 370 from Alexandria to Tobruk. Thus, once Tobruk is established as the base, and our land communications begin from there, no greater strain should be thrown upon the land transport than at present, and it should be possible to start afresh from Tobruk as if Tobruk were Alexandria, and to maintain the moderate but adequate striking force required. With the capture of Benghazi this phase of the Libyan campaign would be ended.

4. The question is, how long will this take? Having regard to the very heavy Italian losses in their best troops and in their vehicles and equipment, and to the fact that we have the command of the sea, the collapse in Cyrenaica might be very rapid. Indeed, all might go with a run at any time. The need for haste is obvious. It would however suffice for our general strategy if Benghazi and everything east of it were effectively in our possession and occupied as a military and naval base at any time during March.

5. The aforesaid Libyan operations need not therefore at all affect the simultaneous pushing of the campaign against the Italians in Abyssinia. General Wavell has already withdrawn the 4th Indian Division. The 5th Indian Division is also available, and it should be possible to carry out the Kassala operation and to spread the revolt in Abyssinia, while at the same time the Kenya forces press northwards by Lake Rudolf. At any time we may receive armistice proposals from the cut-off Italian garrison in Abyssinia. This army must have been buoyed up with hopes of an Italian conquest of the Delta and of the Canal, enabling communications to be restored and supplies to reach them by the Nile and the Red Sea. These hopes are already dead. On the other hand, the vast size of Abyssinia, the lack of all communications, especially sea communications, and the impossibility of nourishing large forces may bring about an indefinite delay. It is however not an unreasonable hope that by the end of April the Italian army in Abyssinia will have submitted or been broken up.

6. The moment that this is apparent the northward movement of all the effective forces in Kenya, as well as those in the Soudan and Abyssinia, will become possible. These forces will thenceforward become a reserve available for operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. If we take the present total strength of the armies in the Middle East at about 370,000 (including convoys W.S.5 and 6), it might be reasonably expected that the equivalent of ten divisions would stand in the Nile Valley, together with two additional divisions from home, a total of twelve, after providing the necessary garrisons and security troops for Abyssinia, Cyrenaica, Egypt, and Palestine. These twelve divisions should thus be free (apart from new distractions) by the end of April.

II

7. To invade and force a way through Spain to the Straits of Gibraltar against the will of the Spanish people and Government, especially at this season, is a most dangerous and questionable enterprise for Germany to undertake, and it is no wonder that Hitler, with so many sullen populations to hold down, has so far shrunk from it. With the permission of the Spanish Government it would of course be a short and easy matter for the Germans to gain control of Lisbon and of the Algeciras and Ceuta batteries, together with appropriate airfields. According to Captain Hillgarth [our Naval Attaché in Madrid], who has lived long in Spain and is fresh from contact with our Ambassador, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that the Spanish Government will give Hitler passage or join the war against us. General Wavell’s victories in Libya have played, and will play, an important part in Spanish opinion. If the Germans are refused permission it is most unlikely that they will try to force their way into and through Spain before the month of April. From every point of view this delay is helpful to us. We have the use of Gibraltar; we have the time for our strength in the Middle East to accomplish its task there and again to become free; above all, there is the possibility of events taking a favourable turn in France and at Vichy.

8. We must now be most careful not to precipitate matters in Spain, or set the Spanish Government against us more than it is already, or provoke Herr Hitler to a violent course towards Spain. All these matters are highly speculative. There can be no certainty about them. But the fact that Hitler has not acted through Spain as we feared, when conditions, both political and climatic, were more favourable to him, makes it on the whole a reasonable working assumption that any German adventure in Spain will at least wait for the spring.

III

9. The probabilities of delay in Spain until the spring give rise to the hope that the Vichy Government, under German pressure or actual German incursion, may either proceed to North Africa and resume the war from there, or authorise General Weygand to do so. If such an event could be brought about before the Straits of Gibraltar fell into German control we should have a very good chance of resisting a German attempt against the Straits indefinitely. We could move troops into Morocco by the Atlantic ports; we should have the use of the French air bases in North Africa. The whole situation in the Mediterranean would be completely revolutionised in our favour. The position of any Italian forces remaining in Tripoli would become impossible. We might well be able to open the Mediterranean for supplies and reinforcements for the Middle East.

10. We have therefore thought it right to assure Marshal Pétain and General Weygand that we will assist them with up to six divisions, substantial air forces, and the necessary naval power from the moment they feel able to take the all-important step we so greatly desire. We have also impressed upon them the danger of delaying their action until the Germans have made their way through Spain and become masters of the Straits and of Northern Morocco. We can but wait and see what Vichy will do. Meanwhile we enforce the blockade of France fitfully and as naval convenience offers, partly to assert the principle, partly to provide a “smoke-screen” of Anglo-French friction, and especially not to let the Vichy Government feel that if they do nothing life will be tolerable for them so far as we are concerned. It is greatly to our interest that events should develop rapidly in France. Presumably Herr Hitler realises this. Nevertheless the probabilities are that the French climax will come about before anything decisive happens in Spain.

IV

11. We must continually expect that Hitler will soon strike some heavy blow, and that he is now making preparations on a vast scale with customary German thoroughness. He can of course easily come down through Italy and establish an air-power in Sicily. Perhaps this is already taking place.

The Chiefs of Staff Committee are requested to press on with their study of “Influx” [a scheme for the occupation of Sicily], which may conceivably require emergency treatment. It is not seen however how “Influx” can be accorded priority over the operations in Libya; certainly not, whatever happens, until Tobruk has been taken and a good forward base made there—if not farther west—to protect Egypt.

V

12. All the foregoing shows that nothing would suit our interest better than that any German advance in the Balkans should be delayed till the spring. For this very reason one must apprehend that it will begin earlier. The exploits of the Greek Army have been an enormous help to us. They have expressed themselves generously about the extremely modest aid in the air which was all we could give. But should their success be followed by a check or a deadlock we must expect immediate demands for more aid. The only aid we can give quickly is four or five more squadrons from the Middle East, perhaps some artillery regiments, and some or all of the tanks of the 2nd Armoured Division, now arrived and working up in leisurely fashion in Egypt.

Furious has reached Takoradi, and forty Hurricanes, etc., will soon raise Air Marshal Longmore’s strength to well over a hundred Hurricane fighters. His losses in the offensive have been singularly small. His action in withdrawing squadrons from Aden and the Soudan has been vindicated. Tobruk may soon be in our hands, and thereafter it would seem that a strong reinforcement of air-power for Greece should be provided. This should include Hurricane squadrons. Have the aerodromes in Greece been lengthened and adapted to them? Has the airfield in Crete yet been made suitable for their landing on passage? The call when it comes, may be very urgent. Everything must be set in train now. We must know also how long it would take to move the 2nd Armoured Division to the Piræus, and what numbers are involved.

13. All accounts go to show that a Greek failure to take Valona will have very bad consequences. It may be possible for General Wavell, with no more than the forces he is now using in the Western Desert, and in spite of some reduction in his Air Force, to conquer the Cyrenaica province and establish himself at Benghazi; but it would not be right for the sake of Benghazi to lose the chance of the Greeks taking Valona, and thus to dispirit and anger them, and perhaps make them in the mood for a separate peace with Italy. Therefore the prospect must be faced that after Tobruk the further westward advance of the Army of the Nile may be seriously cramped. It is quite clear to me that supporting Greece must have priority after the western flank of Egypt has been made secure.

VI

14. The attitude of Yugoslavia may well be determined by the support we give to Greece and by their fortunes before Valona. While it is impossible to dogmatise, it would be more natural for the Germans to push on through Roumania to the Black Sea and to press down through their old ally Bulgaria to Salonika, rather than to force their way through Yugoslavia. Many troop movements and many more rumours would seem to point to this. Evidently there is a great building up of German strength, and improvement of German communications towards the south-east. We must so act as to make it certain that if the enemy enters Bulgaria Turkey will come into the war. If Yugoslavia stands firm and is not molested, if the Greeks take Valona and maintain themselves in Albania, if Turkey becomes an active ally, the attitude of Russia may be affected favourably. Anyone can see how obnoxious, and indeed deadly, a German advance to the Black Sea or through Bulgaria to the Ægean must be to Russia. Fear only will restrain Russia from war, and perhaps a strong Allied front in the Balkans, with the growing prestige of the British Army and sea- and air-power, may lessen that fear. But we must not count on this.

VII

15. Last, but dominating all our war effort, is the threat of invasion, the air warfare and its effects on production, and the grievous pressure upon our western ports and north-western communications. One cannot doubt that Herr Hitler’s need to starve or crush Great Britain is stronger than it has ever been. A great campaign in the east of Europe, the defeat of Russia, the conquest of the Ukraine, and an advance from the Black Sea to the Caspian would none of them separately nor all together bring him victorious peace while the British air-power grew ever stronger behind him and he had to hold down a whole continent of sullen, starving peoples. Therefore the task of preventing invasion, of feeding the Island, and of speeding our armament production must in no way be compromised for the sake of any other objective whatsoever.

Hitler also had his New Year thoughts, and it is interesting to compare his letter to Mussolini written a week earlier with my appreciation. Coincidence is evident about the attitude of General Franco and Spain.

31 Dec 40

Duce,

…In examining the general situation I reach the following conclusions:

1. The war in the West is in itself won. A final violent effort is still necessary to crush England. In order to determine the manner of accomplishing this, we must weigh the factors which separate England from a complete collapse after the intensification of our air and submarine offensives will have produced their effect.

In this battle, and after we have achieved the first stages of success, important German policies will be necessary for a final assault against the British Isles. The concentration of these forces—and particularly the enormous supply dumps—will require an anti-aircraft defence far superior to our original estimates.

2. France. The French Government have dismissed Laval. The official reasons which have been communicated to me are false. I do not doubt for a moment that the real reason is that General Weygand is making demands from North Africa which amount to blackmail, and that the Vichy Government is not in a position to react without risking the loss of North Africa. I also consider it probable that there exists at Vichy itself a whole clique which approves of Weygand’s policy, at least tacitly. I do not think that Pétain personally is disloyal. But one never knows. All this demands constant vigilance and a careful watching of events.

3. Spain. Profoundly troubled by the situation, which Franco thinks has deteriorated, Spain has refused to collaborate with the Axis Powers. I fear that Franco may be about to make the biggest mistake of his life. I think that his idea of receiving from the democracies raw materials and wheat as a sort of recompense for his abstention from the conflict is extremely naïve. The democracies will keep him in suspense until he has consumed the last grain of wheat, and then they will unloose the fight against him.

I deplore all this, for from our side we had completed our preparations for crossing the Spanish frontier on January 10, and to attack Gibraltar at the beginning of February. I think success would have been relatively rapid. The troops picked for this operation have been specially chosen and trained. The moment that the Straits of Gibraltar fell into our hands the danger of a French change-over in North and West Africa would be definitely eliminated.

I am therefore very saddened by this decision of Franco, which is so little in accord with the aid which we, you, Duce, and myself, gave him when he found himself in difficulties. I still have the hope, the slight hope, that he will realise at the last minute the catastrophic consequences of his conduct, and that even tardily he will find his way to this battle-front, where our victory will decide his own destiny.

4. Bulgaria. Bulgaria equally is reluctant to associate herself with the Tripartite Pact and to adopt a clear attitude in her international relations. The growing pressure exercised by Soviet Russia is the cause of this. If the King had adhered immediately to our pact no one would have dared to put such pressure on him. The worst is that this influence poisons public opinion, which is not insensible to Communist infection.

5. Without doubt it is Hungary and Roumania who in this conflict have adopted the most clear-cut attitude. General Antonescu has recognised that the future of his régime, and even of his person, depends on our victory. From this he has drawn clear and direct conclusions which make him go up in my esteem.

The attitude of the Hungarians is no less loyal. Since December 13 German troops have been continually in transit in the direction of Roumania. Hungary and Roumania have put at my disposition their railway network, so that German divisions can be rapidly moved to the points of pressure. I cannot say any more yet of the operations which we are planning or which may become necessary, for these plans are being drawn up at this very moment. The strength of our forces will in any case be such that any threat of lateral counter-manœuvre will be excluded.

It is simply necessary, Duce, that you stabilise your front in Albania so as to contain at least a part of the Greek and Anglo-Greek forces.

6. Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia is prudently gaining time. If circumstances are favourable it may be that she will conclude a non-aggression pact with us, but it seems now that she will not adhere in any case to the Tripartite Pact. I do not count on trying to obtain anything more until our military successes have improved the psychological climate.

7. Russia. Given the danger of seeing internal conflicts develop in a certain number of Balkan countries, it is necessary to foresee the extreme consequences and to have ready machinery capable of avoiding them. I do not envisage any Russian initiative against us so long as Stalin is alive, and we ourselves are not victims of serious setbacks. I consider it essential, Duce, as a premise of a satisfactory conclusion of this war that there should be in existence a German army sufficiently strong to deal with any eventuality in the East. The greater the strength of this army appears the less will be the probability that we shall have to employ it against an unforeseen danger. I would like to add to these general considerations that our present relations with the U.S.S.R. are very good. We are on the eve of concluding a trade treaty which will satisfy both parties, and there is considerable hope that we can resolve in a reasonable manner the remaining points at issue between us.

In fact, the only two questions which still divide us are Finland and Constantinople. In regard to Finland, I do not foresee fundamental difficulties, because we do not regard Finland as belonging essentially to our sphere of influence, and the only thing that interests us is that a second war should not break out in this area.

In contrast to this, it is not in our interest to abandon Constantinople to Russia and Bulgaria to Bolshevism. But even here it should be possible, with good intentions, to reach a solution which will avoid the worst and facilitate what we want. It will be easier to find a solution if Moscow is clear that nothing obliges us to accept an arrangement which is not satisfactory to us.

8. Africa. Duce, I do not think that in this theatre any counter-attack on a large scale can be launched at the moment. The preparation of such an enterprise would take a minimum of three to five months. In the meantime we shall reach the season of the year in which the German armoured formations cannot successfully go into action. For unless they are equipped with special cooling devices even the armoured cars cannot be used in practice at such temperatures. In any case they cannot be used for tactical operations at long distances requiring a whole day.

The decisive solution in this sector seems to be to increase the number of anti-tank weapons, even if that means that in other sectors Italian formations must be deprived of these special guns.

Above all, as I stated recently, I believe nevertheless that we should try by all means to weaken the naval position of Great Britain in the Mediterranean with our air forces, because the employment of our ground troops in this sector cannot improve the situation.

For the rest, Duce, no decision of importance can be made before the month of March.¹

Foreign Minister to Prime Minister

6 Jan 41

Salutations and congratulations upon the victory of Bardia! If I may debase a golden phrase, “never has so much been surrendered by so many to so few”.

The object of this minute however is to call attention to a less satisfactory sector of the international horizon, the Balkans. A mass of information has come to us over the last few days from divers sources, all of which tends to show that Germany is pressing forward her preparations in the Balkans with a view to an ultimate descent upon Greece. The date usually mentioned for such a descent is the beginning of March, but I feel confident that the Germans must be making every effort to antedate their move. Whether or not military operations are possible through Bulgaria against Salonika at this time of the year I am not qualified to say, but we may feel certain that Germany will seek to intervene by force to prevent complete Italian defeat in Albania. Already there are reports of increased enemy air forces operating against the Greeks, and General Papagos states that these are slowing down his advance. It would be in accordance with German methods to establish superiority in the air before making any move on land.

Politically the attitude of the Bulgarian Government causes me grave disquiet. They give the impression of men who have now little control of events. Their Press is increasingly under German control, and is now little else but the mouthpiece of Axis propaganda. It is essential that our victories in North Africa should not result in any decrease of watchfulness on the part of the Turks and Yugoslavs, and we are doing what we can in the political sphere to ensure this. You may wish to have all these questions considered by the Defence Committee.

Prime Minister to General Ismay, for C.O.S. Committee

6 Jan 41

Pray see the attached from the Foreign Secretary. In spite of the evident need to pursue the Italians along the Libyan coast while the going is good, we shall have to consider the dispatch of four or five more squadrons of the Royal Air Force to Greece, and possibly the diversion of part of the 2nd British Armoured Division.

I cannot look beyond Benghazi at the present time, and if Tobruk is taken there will be very few Italian troops, and by no means their best, east of Benghazi….

Although perhaps by luck and daring we may collect comparatively easily most delectable prizes on the Libyan shore, the massive importance of the taking of Valona and keeping the Greek front in being must weigh hourly with us.

On January 8 the Defence Committee agreed that in view of the probability of an early German advance into Greece through Bulgaria it was of the first importance, from the political point of view, that we should do everything possible, by hook or by crook, to send at once to Greece the fullest support within our power. It was also agreed that a decision on the form and extent of our assistance to Greece should be taken within the next forty-eight hours. On this same day I received the following telegram from General Smuts. This was written quite independently of my minute two days earlier. I was fortified by his complete agreement with my view, endorsed as it was by the Chiefs of Staff and the Defence Committee.

General Smuts to Prime Minister

8 Jan 41

Magnificent victories in the Middle East open up a field of speculation regarding our future course. Flowing tide will soon carry Wavell to Tobruk. Should he go farther? Tripoli is much too far. Even Benghazi is as far beyond the frontier as the frontier is from Alexandria. But there may be sound reasons, naval or other, for going so far as Benghazi. In the absence of good and special reasons Tobruk seems to me the terminus. Beyond it he risks not necessary to detail. Leaving an adequate defensive force there in a fortified position, the rest of the Army should be withdrawn to Egypt and the Middle East, where a strong army [of] manœuvre will be required against possible attack through the Balkans.

2. I would however suggest that at such a stage liquidation of the Abyssinian situation should also be considered. Conquest of Abyssinia would mean a deadly blow at Mussolini’s prestige and at the Fascist plunder. Italy may possibly be forced out of the war and the whole of the Mediterranean position transformed. Germany would once more be isolated, with prospect of certain defeat.

3. For an early liquidation of Abyssinia there is also the argument that the Italian morale there must be particularly low now, and early finish of the campaign would release large forces for reinforcing our front in the Middle East. If part of Wavell’s Middle East army could be detailed shortly, reinforcing an attack on Abyssinia from the north, and a simultaneous attack is launched from Kenya, Italian resistance might rapidly disintegrate. I should think that an additional division in the north and another in Kenya would be sufficient if both attacks proceed simultaneously.

4. If such a plan for simultaneous attack is approved I am prepared to supply the additional division for the south. Except for the deficiency in Bren guns, it is ready and could be moved as soon as shipping could be provided. Transport of such large forces both in the north and south must take some time, and if my suggestion is approved decision should be made as soon as possible. Attack from the south will rapidly push the fighting front away from Kenya, and so involve the scrapping of much of the plan now being worked on there. Plan of simultaneous attack from the north and south is required if unnecessary risk and a long campaign are to be avoided in so large an area as Eritrea and Abyssinia. For this [the] additional division in the north will be necessary, and probably sufficient. I hope it can be spared in spite of rumours of large German concentrations in Roumania and Hungary.

Question is whether Germany can afford to set the Balkans ablaze with Russia an incalculable factor and Turkey hostile. The Italian defeat in Africa and Greece, together with the failure of the German Air Force against Britain, have profoundly changed the position, and the German concentrations may only be intended to pacify the Italians, and to lure the British forces away from Britain, where the main attack is intended and has to be made. Whole situation is one for consideration of the General Staff, who have full facts before them. To me it would in the circumstances appear not to involve undue risk presently to detach one division with the necessary air force from the Middle East army in order to strengthen the Soudan force for this attack from the north. If the operation is brought off soon and expeditiously it might produce far-reaching results in Italy and the Middle East.

On January 10 the Chiefs of Staff warned the commanders in the Middle East that a German attack on Greece might start before the end of the month. It would come, they thought, through Bulgaria, and the probable line of advance would be down the Struma valley against Salonika. Three divisions, supported by about two hundred dive-bombers, would be used, and three or four more divisions might be added after March. The Chiefs of Staff added that the decision of His Majesty’s Government to give the greatest possible help to the Greeks meant that once Tobruk was taken all other operations in the Middle East must have second place, and they authorised the dispatch therefrom of mechanised and specialist units and air forces up to the following limits: one squadron of Infantry tanks, one regiment of cruiser tanks,² ten regiments of artillery, and five squadrons of aircraft.

The Commanders-in-Chief in Cairo thought that the German concentration in Roumania, of which we had warned them, was merely a war of nerves, designed to induce us to disperse our forces in the Middle East and stop our advance in Libya. Wavell trusted that the Chiefs of Staff would “consider most urgently whether enemy’s move is not bluff”.

On reading this reply, which was far astray from the facts, I issued the following:

Prime Minister to General Ismay or Colonel Hollis, for C.O.S. Committee

10 Jan 41

Chiefs of Staff should meet to-morrow, Saturday morning, to consider the various telegrams from the Middle East H.Q., and they are authorised to dispatch the attached telegram which I have drafted to General Wavell and Air Marshal Longmore, unless they wish to make any communication to me upon it.

Prime Minister to General Wavell

10 Jan 41

Our information contradicts idea that German concentration in Roumania is merely a “move in war of nerves” or a “bluff to cause dispersion of force”. We have a mass of detail indicating that a large-scale movement through Bulgaria towards the Greek frontier aimed presumably at Salonika will begin before the end of the month. Hostile forces to be employed in the aforesaid invasion would not be large, but of deadly quality. One, perhaps two, armoured divisions, with one motorised division, about 180 dive-bombers, and some parachute troops, seems to be all that could cross the Bulgarian-Greek frontier up till the middle of February.

2. But this force, if not stopped, may play exactly the same part in Greece as the German Army’s break-through at Sedan played in France. All Greek divisions in Albania will be fatally affected. These are the facts and implications which arise from our information, in which we have good reason to believe. But is this not also the very thing the Germans ought to do to harm us most? Destruction of Greece will eclipse victories you have gained in Libya, and may affect decisively Turkish attitude, especially if we have shown ourselves callous of fate of allies. You must now therefore conform your plans to larger interests at stake.

3. Nothing must hamper capture of Tobruk, but thereafter all operations in Libya are subordinated to aiding Greece, and all preparations must be made from the receipt of this telegram for the immediate succour of Greece up to the limits prescribed. These matters have been earnestly weighed by Defence Committee of Cabinet, and General Smuts has independently cabled almost identical views.

4. We expect and require prompt and active compliance with our decisions, for which we bear full responsibility. Your joint visit to Athens will enable you to contrive the best method of giving effect to the above decisions. It should not be delayed.

The Chiefs of Staff being in accord, this telegram was dispatched. It will be seen that our intentions at this time did not amount to the offer to Greece of an army, but only to special and technical units.

On these orders General Wavell and Air Chief Marshal Longmore flew to Athens for discussions with Generals Metaxas and Papagos. On January 15 they told us that the Greek Government were unwilling that any of our troops should land in Salonika until they could do so in sufficient numbers to act offensively. On receipt of this telegram the Chiefs of Staff telegraphed on January 17 that there could be no question of forcing our aid upon the Greeks. In consequence we modified our view of the immediate future, decided to push on to Benghazi, and meanwhile to build up the strongest strategic reserve possible in the Delta.

On January 21 the Chiefs of Staff accordingly proposed to Wavell that the capture of Benghazi was now of the highest importance. They considered that if it were made into a strongly fortified naval and air base the overland route might be dropped and both men and transport saved. They also urged him to seize the Dodecanese, and especially Rhodes, as soon as possible, in order to forestall the arrival of the German Air Force, with its consequent threat to our communications with Greece and Turkey, and to form a strategic reserve of four divisions to be ready to help these two countries.

Moral of the Work

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

THE GRAND ALLIANCE

Theme of the Volume

CONTENTS

BOOK I
GERMANY DRIVES EAST

BOOK II
WAR COMES TO AMERICA

MAPS AND DIAGRAMS

BOOK I

GERMANY DRIVES EAST

CHAPTER I

THE DESERT AND THE BALKANS

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

CHAPTER II

THE WIDENING WAR

Moral of the Work

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

THE GRAND ALLIANCE

Theme of the Volume

CONTENTS

BOOK IGERMANY DRIVES EAST

BOOK IIWAR COMES TO AMERICA

MAPS AND DIAGRAMS

BOOK I

GERMANY DRIVES EAST

CHAPTER I

THE DESERT AND THE BALKANS

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

CHAPTER II

THE WIDENING WAR

BOOK I
GERMANY DRIVES EAST

BOOK II
WAR COMES TO AMERICA